Vilanova wary of Deportivo La Coruna upset

The 43-year-old has warned his squad of the perils of international breaks and urged his side to continue their rich vein of form in the league
Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova says he is taking nothing for granted on Saturday and is wary of becoming the victim of an upset against newly-promoted Deportivo La Coruna.

The Blaugrana sit top of La Liga on 19 points and are yet to lose in the league this season, in stark contrast to this weekend's opponents, who languish in 18th spot having mustered just six points.

The 43-year-old says the objective after the international break is to ensure they keep up their rich vein of form, while to continuing to improve, citing their tricky away visit to the Estadio Riazor as the perfect place to start.

"There are no easy games and certainly not away to Deportivo- especially with the players coming off the international break. Riazor has never been an easy ground," Vilanova told reporters.

The Catalan coach rotated his side after the last international break but feels this weekend could merit a different approach.

He said: "It's important to get players back - if that happens we can start to make rotations in the team. Every situation is different – you have to bear in mind how the players feel when they come back.

"This time they've had a better trip back and we've been able to train. We'll see how they feel when they get up on Saturday and if there are any hints of jet lag."

Vilanova also took time out to respond to reports that the club had made a video highlighting the conduct of Real Madrid's Pepe, while former coach Pepe Guardiola was in charge.

"There are no videos of any players at all. We record all of our games so we can get an overall view, but we don't make videos of other players- we've never concentrated on one player," he stated.

"We would have been better talking about the game [against Real Madrid] after the match, rather than concentrating on a single incident."

He also revealed that Gerard Pique will play no part this weekend while David Villa will continue to be eased back into the side.

"[Pique] is still not 100 per cent and we'll not be taking any risks with him. [Villa] knows that he's just come back from a long layoff and that he will gradually come back into the team and start to figure," he added.

 
Chimdindu Nweke